Palaeomagnetic observations underpin reconstructions of plate motions, investigations of geomagnetic-field evolution and reversals, and studies of the timing and environmental setting of geological processes. Their interpretation, however, relies on the extent to which natural remanent magnetisation (NRM) faithfully records both the ambient field and the geological history of a material. Establishing that fidelity, and identifying the circumstances in which it is degraded, remains a central challenge in palaeomagnetism, rock and environmental magnetism, planetary science, as well as magnetic-materials research.
This session will explore the acquisition, stability, alteration, and measurement of magnetic remanence in natural and synthetic materials. It hopes to bring together those who examine how processes operating at the scale of magnetic domains and individual grains with those looking at larger mineral-scale behaviour and, ultimately, to the bulk signals measured in palaeomagnetic samples and used in geological interpretation.
While micromagnetic theory and modelling offer powerful ways to bridge these scales, the session will take a deliberately broad approach, bringing together theoretical and numerical studies with laboratory experiments, magnetic imaging, observational work, and geological applications.
Contributions are invited that test the assumptions underlying palaeomagnetic interpretation; identify sources of bias, overprinting, and uncertainty; and develop methods to recognise, quantify, and, where possible, correct unreliable magnetic records.